The Words I've Spoken
by Artemisdesari
Summary: Sequel to A Path To Explode In Flames. Gabriel and Hecate have a new eternity together, but there is a war in Heaven and a new enemy emerging, not to mention the fact that Gabriel may soon be a father. This is their journey. Rating may to change.
1. Associate

_Right, first of all big thanks out to Sweetheart From Hell who's 25 sentences fic inspired the idea behind how to do this fic. I wanted to do a follow up to A Path To Explode In Flames but didn't have a complete plot that I could use. One random word generator later and I've got words to use for a series of short snap shots of Gabriel and Hecate's life together after the aforementioned fic concluded. All I need to do is incorporate the word into the story somewhere._

_It will take place in between season 5 and 6 and also over the course of season 6. There will be mentions of anything that has aired so all episodes are going to be spoiled. It being me, there will possibly also be the development of a relationship between Dean and Castiel (Gabriel has to have something to do after all) and Sam scratching away at the wall._

**_Disclaimer:_**_ Far as I know, Gabriel is still dead on the show, so I really don't own it. All I can do is play, and I like playing._

The Words I've Spoken.

Associate.

Gabriel looks out over the city as the sun rises. This is the first day of a new world, though the majority of humanity will never know it. There is a sorrow in the way that he stands, leaning on the railing of the balcony of the apartment he shares with Hecate. The light of the rising sun is reflected red on the clouds, a sure sign that there will be a storm later, and it seems to mirror the archangel's mood. For the moment the apocalypse is over, Michael and Lucifer are locked in the cage and he half hopes that they will either kill each other or reconcile their differences while they are there.

This will only be the beginning, however, Heaven is in chaos now and if he felt any loyalty to his brothers at all he would be back up there to take charge. His loyalty lies somewhere else, however, with someone else. Heaven long ago lost the feeling of home, of family, and though he mourns the brothers who are now trapped in Hell for another eternity, he cannot ignore the fact that their incarceration has given him this chance to be happy. He only wishes that he did not feel so guilty about the fact that he _has _this chance.

"Gabriel?" Hecate emerges from the bedroom, her nightgown of red satin rustles slightly as she walks. Soft hands smooth up his chest as she steps up behind him, gentle lips pressing a kiss against his shoulder. Her black red hair is tousled from the night they just spent together, her dark eyes full of concern as he glances over his shoulder.

"Do you think it was worth it?" He asks her, glancing back at the city as the sound of sirens cuts through the air. "I told them how to lock my brothers together in torment, do you think it was worth it?"

"Yes."

He waits for her to continue, waits for her to say something else but she is silent for a long while before she speaks again.

"You stopped the end of the world, dear one," she whispers, "come inside."

"That's an over simplification, Hecate," he tells her as he follows her inside. "I gave them the idea, I would never be able to do it."

"That's why I associate with you, Gabriel," she mutters as they settle on the bed. "The lives of your family are precious to you."

He pulls her into a kiss and he dare not tell her that the only life he really cares about any longer is hers.

_Artemis_


	2. Impression

_You know it's taken me days to write this? 800 words that I struggled to get out. I've been having a slightly rubbish time of it lately which has affected my ability to churn out massive chapters. Sooner or later you will wind up with longer ones though. I promise._

Impression.

The outbreak of civil war comes as no real surprise to Gabriel or Hecate. Without Michael to provide clear leadership, and the introduction of a resurrected Castiel into the mix, friction was completely inevitable. It does not mean that the continued slaughter of his brethren does not hurt some deeply buried part of the archangel.

With the outbreak of fighting in Heaven no small number of Gabriel's brothers and sisters have managed to make it to Earth to hide among the population and this brings to his existence a whole new level of complication. While Lucifer was out of his cage the ranks of the Host were rather tightly controlled and focussed. Now those who have chosen not to side with either party have followed in Gabriel's footsteps by hiding on Earth. They only participate in the fighting where it affects them and Gabriel is under no illusions here: Raphael means to kill each and every one of the defectors where he can.

Castiel, on the other hand, will more than likely let everyone live once he has won the battle to teach his brothers and sisters the meaning of free will.

It is nice to think that someone other than the archangel is aware of the joy of being able to chose one's own path. It is nice to think that this is not a battle that he will have to take any part in. Gabriel is about as far removed from Heaven now as he possibly could be and that is a relief. It still does not change the fact that his brothers are dying again and there is nothing that he can do about it.

"Aren't you ever tempted?" Hecate asks as they lie next to one another in the sand on a quiet island in the Mediterranean. He rolls his head to one side so that he can squint at her through the brilliant sunlight.

"To do what?" He knows what she is referring to, knows what she is asking but he wants her to say the words anyway. Much as he loves her he would not like her to be under any illusions about him. Gabriel does not like emotions, does not like being ruled by them or feeling them, and he dislikes talking about them almost as much.

She sits up and twists to look at him, pushing large dark sunglasses up on top of her head so that she can meet his eyes. Gabriel has seen every inch of her over the course of the centuries he has known her, over the decades that they have been lovers, but he will admit to himself that he likes her best this way, sun kissed in a green bikini.

"Go back up there and help Castiel."

"What gives you the impression that _Castiel_ is the one I would chose to help?" He questions. It is not that he has anything against the resurrected angel, just that he was closer to Raphael before he walked out of Heaven.

"I'm not stupid, Loki," she reminds him, still careful not to address him by his true name when they are not in one of their heavily warded safe houses. "I've never imagined Raphael as the forgive and forget type."

"He's not." Gabriel admits. "This is _their _war, Hecate. I have no place up there now, we both know that." He relaxes back onto the sand, closing his eyes against the glare she directs towards him. He snaps up a cold cocktail as he lies there, sickly sweet and brightly coloured, a part of his disguise that is so ingrained in him that it is almost like breathing. It has also been a way of hiding in his past.

Unfortunately, Hecate sees right through it. She knows him far to well to let him hide behind a mask that she helped him to create. She turns his head towards her, waiting until he cracks one eye open before opening her mouth to speak. He can see the worry written there, however, and cuts her off.

"I'm here, I've been here for too long to go back. If Castiel wants my help he can find me and ask me for it."

"He doesn't even know you're alive," Hecate points out.

"That's the point," he responds, putting his hands under his head and settling once more on the sand. "Anyone would think you wanted to get rid of me," he challenges after a moment.

"I put too much effort into getting you," she informs him before kissing him. It is a deep, serious, kiss and there is no more talking done for the next several hours.

_Artemis_


	3. Workload

_No excuses from me, I've been lazy rather than busy, but being signed off work will do that to a body. Now on the final stretch of my fourth week off for stress. Go me. Wish I could say that writing was helping with that, but I've been disturbingly uninspired the last month or so. This is more a product of small moments of inspiration rather than a lasting burst like I usually have. Anyway, enough of the "woe is me" pity party. It isn't all that interesting and it's hardly the most ladylike of behaviour. Besides, Hecate is giving me disapproving glares from the corner of my mind._

Workload.

Since the death of the leading council of pagan gods, the others have let the responsibility of maintaining their Library fall by the wayside. The last ruling council waltzed the pagan deities straight into a confrontation that they were not prepared for and no one has been in a rush to re-establish the ruling body that has become little more than a shambles.

The Library, however, still needs to be watched and protected because the information it holds is too dangerous to allow simply _anyone_ to have access to it.

It has taken a number of arguments with several members of her kind for Hecate to realise that none of them want to add the protection of their secrets to their workload, for her to realise that if anyone is going to do it then it will have to be her. Gabriel is less than impressed with this conclusion. He has other things that he wants to do with her and other places that he wants to spend his time. Even given some past actions, which she would really rather not bring up, Hecate has a great sense of responsibility.

The Library is fluid, though it is technically in the same place, the entrance to it shifts almost continually and it can take time to find. Which has always been one of the reasons that the council chambers are joined to it, so that no matter where it ends up the others can always locate the Library when they need it. Without the council it has been bouncing around the globe and it takes her days to locate it. When she _does,_ however, she quickly finds that the place is not as abandoned as she first thought it would be, and nor is the current occupant one that she _wants_ to have an encounter with right now. Particularly not when she considers the state of things in Heaven right now.

"Well, well, well," the angel says. He is tall, with dirty blonde hair and faded blue eyes that stare at her with a kind of jaded boredom. "If I _could_ vomit I think I would."

"Who are you?" Hecate demands, feeling a tremor of fear shiver through her and she knows that Gabriel has felt it as well from the gentle brush of his grace against their bond. He will be on his way soon and if this _is_ one of Raphael's followers she does not want him alive to go back and squeal on Gabriel.

"Why should I tell you?" He demands, his stance becoming even more wary, more defensive as his eyes sharpen. "Your lot aren't much more than parasites anyway, no one will notice if one more of you gets killed."

"_I_ might," Gabriel's voice echoes slightly, though he appears relaxed as he leans against a bookcase. The strange angel starts, frowns and cocks his head slightly as he looks at Gabriel like he is trying to place him. "You _really_ don't want to mess with me."

Hecate sees a flash of sliver out the corner of her eye and feels the tension coil in her lover's grace as he stares at this angel. There is a hint of reluctance there, too, and she knows that it is because he does not want to have to hurt another of his brothers. She also knows that he will if it keeps her safe.

Part of her thinks that she should feel some guilt about that.

"Who _are_ you?" The other angel demands after a long period of staring at Gabriel.

"Loki, and we're the ones asking the questions. You're on _our _turf now, my friend."

"I'm just storing a few things here, nothing that you need to be concerned about," the angels spreads his arms. "That war they're fighting up there, I've got no interest in it and as far as I'm concerned it's everyone for himself… or herself."

"You expect me to believe that?" Gabriel asks, golden eyes narrow and they flicker once to Hecate before going straight back to the stranger.

"I'm not expecting you to believe anything, but how about I go my way and you go yours? No need for either one of us to die."

"Funny," Hecate mutters, "you were willing to kill me a moment ago."

"That was before I noticed that one of _your_ friends had managed to get his hands on one of _our_ blades," the other responds. "We don't have to _like _each other, but how about I take your name too and I'll give you mine. Then we'll be on our way."

Hecate turns to look at her lover, her hounds on the edge of her consciousness as she seeks them. Gabriel is almost motionless, his golden eyes completely fixated on the brother who seems bold enough to waltz out of heaven with a valuable haul that he needs to hide. He does _nod_, however, and so the goddess whispers her name into the half light of a torch lit room.

"I've heard stories about you," the angel replies, "_fascinating_ stories. The name is Balthazar, and I'm _very_ aware of the power a name has so lets neither of us do anything _stupid."_

Gabriel gestures to her, a curt movement, and both of them relax back a little bit. Balthazar grins at them, a brittle expression that looks almost wrong on his face.

"It's been a pleasure," Balthazar tells them and snaps his fingers. He is gone before either of them can stop him.

"Do you think he recognised you?" Hecate asks after a moment of silence. Gabriel looks at her, his expression serious.

"I don't know."

_Artemis_


	4. Speaker

_Two chapters in three days! I'm spoiling you all with these snippets. In honesty, though, the reviews really helped me to get my mojo back so thank you to everyone who reviewed for that. It also helps that I've applied for a number of jobs that are not the one that's caused me so much stress and anguish over the last six years (I had to have a reason for a breakdown you know) so there is hope. Let us also hope that this is not a moment of "The grass is always greener"._

_Onwards!_

Speaker.

The room is old, sparsely decorated with portraits framed with dark wood and carpets worn by centuries of footfalls. Heavy drapes of deep red have been drawn back to reveal a stained glass window that stretches from floor to ceiling, the image is that of a goddess with great red eyed hounds at her feet. A dust coated piano sits in one corner, long unused and long ignored, bathed in rays of sunlight that it has not experienced in more years than the room's occupants would consider contemplating. Dust dances and glitters in the air as it is disturbed by the casual movement of the two people who have entered the room for the first time in decades.

"You ever consider changing the décor?" Gabriel asks as he surveys the room.

"I don't complain about your apartments," Hecate responds, dark eyes looking at the layers of dust with a hint of distaste. "Besides, for this particular meeting I thought that _my_ place would be better, less chance of an unexpected surprise." She snaps her fingers and dirt is replaced with gleaming surfaces, moth eaten fabric looks like new and the worn places in the carpet are replaced with colour.

"Freyja _did_ say that she wants to see you alone," Gabriel points out as he settles himself on the heavy couch.

"Which is exactly why I want you here," Hecate responds, settling next to him and he snaps up a pot of sweet tea. "I'm not stupid enough to lock myself in a room with her on my own. She should know that."

Gabriel _does_ know that, in fact he would be disappointed with her if she were. All the same, he can't help but think that if he is there Freyja will find a reason not to discuss whatever pressing business that has forced her to swallow her distaste for Hecate and meet the goddess on her own grounds.

"What is _that_ doing here?" The voice is both familiar and unwelcome, Gabriel could happily have gone several centuries without seeing Freyja again.

"This is _my_ house, Freyja," Hecate's voice is cold, "and I can invite whomever I chose to over the threshold."

"It can't be trusted," the blonde snaps in return.

"'_It_' has a name," Gabriel cuts in. "It isn't even all that hard to pronounce. Say it with me now: Loki. _Lo_-Key. L-O-K-I, _Loki_." Hecate shoots an amused glance in his direction as the other goddess glares at him.

"I can't believe you would lower yourself to that," she hisses. "You could have been the greatest of us, Hecate, and instead you're consorting with a traitor and a murderer."

"_What_?" The question comes from both Hecate and Gabriel at the same time, an expression of outrage that seems to cause Freyja to smirk at them both.

"Don't pretend that you don't know," she mutters. "Loki was the only one to survive the Elysian Field Motel Massacre."

"We're really calling it that, now?" Gabriel mumbles before Hecate gestures for him to be still.

"For all we know he made a bargain with Lucifer to get the council and some of the more powerful of us out of the way," Freyja presses on with little more than a glare at Gabriel for interrupting. "If he'll sell himself to Lucifer who knows what else he'll do."

"You're being ridiculous," Hecate laughs. "I can trust Loki with my existence."

"Then you would be the only one of us," Freyja snaps, "I've spoken to the others and they all agree, Loki is dangerous to us."

"I'm right here," Gabriel objects as he finally becomes bored with listening to the two women talk and to Freyja's foundless accusations.

"Unfortunately," Freyja replies and Hecate gets to her feet, face a thundercloud and eyes flashing as her magic gathers around her.

"That is _enough_, Freyja, I don't know who among us was _stupid_ enough to vote you as Speaker but I will not sit here and allow you to insult us both in our home!"

Gabriel is insanely proud of his lover in this moment. Not only is she standing up to Freyja and her insults, she is facing off the entirety of the all the pagan pantheons. The Speaker of Gods is a position rarely used and one that Gabriel has only seen brought into a situation on a couple of occasions. The Speaker is nominated to intercede when the other gods feel that one or two of their number is doing something not just monumentally stupid but potentially destructive for all of them. In this case they obviously have an issue with Hecate's continued association with Loki, and obviously with Loki's continued existence. Which means that there is no way that any of the others have realised the truth about him, and just as evident that they do not know that for a very long couple of hours Gabriel was very nearly truly dead.

He wants to step in when Freyja starts shouting back at Hecate, except that this house belongs to his lover and that means that he has to afford her the respect that she deserves in this instance. Though he has never had much time for the social niceties of her kind in the past, at this moment he knows that he cannot afford to embarrass her in front of this goddess who is trying her best to tear them apart.

"Some goddess of love _you _are!" Hecate spits. "I'd think that you would be happy to know that our kind can still find love after all this time. But obviously not. I want you out of my home! I want you away from me and away from Loki, and you can tell the others that the next time they feel the need to interfere in my existence they may want to get all the facts right first."

"You have no idea what you're messing with, Hecate! This obsession with Loki has to come to an end."

"Isn't the worry that the civil war in heaven might spill over to Earth again something a little more pressing," Gabriel points out finally. He knows that it could take decades, centuries even, for it to happen but it is a good threat all the same. Freyja falls silent and looks nervously at Hecate as growls begin to fill the room.

Naturally his lover would call in her dogs at this point.

"I believe I told you to leave," Hecate's voice is cold and the two dogs at her ankles only serve to re-enforce her words. Freyja is gone between one heart beat and the next. "Sweet Hades below," Hecate crows and flings her arms around his neck, "I've wanted to do that for centuries."

_Artemis_


	5. Override

_It's only a short one, and an exploration piece at that, but it's going to set up the next couple of chapters for you all._

Override.

Gabriel has always been the angel on the fence. The one who sat to one side during the altercations between his brothers and tried to keep his head down. Orders were always something to be followed, and loyalty to his Father is something that will never come into question, but Gabriel has never liked to fall onto one side or another of a conflict. He would rather watch.

Just as he is watching now as the fight between Castiel and Raphael tears Heaven apart in another civil war.

This time there is no Father to tell them all to back down and back off. This time there is no Father to drive them all to set aside their dispute and to settle the argument about what He wants for them all once and for all. In his heart, if he really has such a thing, Gabriel suspects that his Father has come down on Castiel's side in this. The world has changed a great deal from the day that they all gained awareness. It has changed since Lucifer fell and the birth of the Son. It has changed from the days where the Grigori were looked upon as something dark and vile and the Nephilim were a plague of half breeds to be exterminated at all costs.

Different systems of belief do not always sit easily next to one another, and parts of the world are still intolerant of one or another religion or belief, but it is not the same world that his Father walked away from. It is not the same world that Raphael was created to protect.

Gabriel suspects that somewhere along the lines that duty has been forgotten.

He and his brothers were ordered to love mankind as they loved their Father. It appears that they lost sight of that order a long time ago. Whether Raphael wants to admit it or not, the choice to restart the apocalypse is one of free will. There is no order, there is no real need. The Winchester brothers have pretty effectively derailed that plan for the foreseeable future and Gabriel simply cannot understand why his brethren cannot sit back and relax, why they cannot learn about freedom and fun the way that he has.

Gabriel likes to remain neutral in the fights between his family members, but he knows that the one thing which would override that is a danger to Hecate.

Which is the first thought to flit through his mind when he feels the wards around the safe house he shares with her vibrate with the arrival of someone both familiar and unfamiliar. His first instinct is to race back to Hecate's side. However, their bond flickers with a moment of confidence and security, then the implicit warning for him to continue with what he is doing.

He remains wary, but does not immediately return home.

_Artemis_


	6. Offering

_Watch me go! Another one! This one pretty much wrote itself while I was walking yesterday and so I figured I'd share it with you now. Enjoy._

Offering.

Hecate is relaxing in front of an open fire with the head of one of her hounds on her knee as she stares at the flickering flames. The large beast rumbles happily as she runs her fingers through his fur, the steady rhythm as much of a comfort to her as it is a delight to the creature.

Truth be told, she is more concerned about the apparent distaste that the others have for her and Gabriel than she has admitted to him. Dealing with one or two of the other deities will not be difficult for the couple, both of them are powerful in their own right. She is simply concerned that if they are as opposed to Loki's continued existence as they appear to be one of these days it will come down to them against the rest of the pantheons. She needs allies and she needs to ensure that their friends are still on their side. She needs to ensure that if it comes to a fight their friends will fight _for_ them and not _against_ them.

The wards around the safe house shiver as someone a little more threatening than the average human approaches the property. Hecate tenses for a moment, knowing that Gabriel will have felt the same tremor that she has, then relaxes again as she hears a knock on the door and the gentle touch of a goddess she once knew very well. Their friendship has decayed over the years, but that has been more due to the long passage of time between encounters than through any quarrel. Feeling Gabriel's grace tensing through their bond she sends a pulse of reassurance. She does not need him here for this meeting.

Her own simulacra playmate opens the door, allowing the goddess to lean back in her chair and close her eyes so that she can see the face of her visitor before the other enters. It is a face pinched with concern and something like fear. The visitor brushes past the scarcely clothed male, a muscular creation with deeply tanned skin and honey coloured hair, paying him little heed and coming into the room with all the arrogance of one who believes themselves entitled.

"Hel," Hecate bows her head, though she does not get to her feet.

"Is my father here?" The tall woman asks, settling herself into a chair that Hecate creates for her.

"No, he's off somewhere wronging rights and giving the less savoury members of the human race the rewards they deserve." Hecate's lips twist wryly.

Hel turns her gaze to the fire, blue eyes reflecting the orange light and black hair taking on a brilliant sheen. Contrary to much of the imagery that exists among human kind, Hel is neither twisted nor ancient. Rather she has the appearance of a woman on the fringes of her twenties with pale skin and long, slender, limbs. With a giantess for a mother the younger goddess is well built, tall and curved in all of the right places, with only the shape of her nose and the line of her jaw to show her relationship to Loki. As far as Hecate is aware, the goddess has never worked out that Loki is no longer in control of the body that Gabriel inhabits, as far as Hecate knows Hel still believes that she was able to save the life of the trickster god.

"I know he isn't really my father now," Hel mutters quietly. "I've known it for a long time. The snake poison changed him."

"I'm sorry," Hecate tells the younger woman, and she is. Her actions have taken this goddess's father away from her and replaced him with a stranger with a tarnished halo and wings dressed up in a Loki suit.

"It's not your fault. I watch him sometimes and I still see flashes of my father, the one I knew, there. It's like he doesn't know me, Hecate. He abandoned me to the underworld when I was too young to understand the politics and he _never _explained his reasoning. Now when he looks at me I know he recognises me, but there's no feeling."

"Is that why you're here?" Hecate whispers. "You want me to reassure you that your father loves you?"

"No, I know my father will never be able to love me…" she trails off and glances at some of the pictures that Hecate has decorated the room with. "I just need to know one thing, is what Freyja said true? Did my father side with Lucifer?"

"No," the laugh that Hecate allows to bubble out is relieved. "Actually, your father almost didn't survive. I got there just in time. Loki stood for us and for humanity, Hel, and Lucifer nearly killed him for it." Relief floods across Hel's face.

"I spoke for him against Freyja, I knew she was lying," seemingly impulsively the younger goddess takes Hecate's hand tightly in hers. "Thank you." They sit in silence for a long moment. "You and my father have bonded, haven't you?"

"That's against all of our rules, Hel, you know that," Hecate turns her attention completely onto this other goddess, concern filtering through her.

"That's never stopped my father before." Hecate pulls a face in agreement but does not comment. "Besides, I think it's about time. When are the two of you going to give me a brother or sister?"

"It's a little early to be thinking about that," the triple goddess shakes her head but her smile is gentle.

"It could be just what we need to bring all the others in line, it's been so long since there's been a new life in among our kind."

"I know, but a baby isn't a peace offering," Hecate points out. Hel grins at her.

"That's not what I meant," she shakes her head and they fall into silence again. "Hecate? If you and my father are bonded it makes you family."

"I don't want to play wicked stepmother," Hecate laughs.

"No, but perhaps just mother? You can't do a worse job than my own did."

Hel's voice is low, her face down turned as she speaks. It drives Hecate to get out of her chair and go to the younger goddess, to place her hand under the chin of Loki's daughter and tilt her face upright once more. She has tears in her eyes when she smiles, the simple request tugging at her. She presses her lips to Hel's forehead.

"It would be an honour, child," she whispers and is enveloped in a hug by the taller goddess.

"Thank you, Mother," Hel mutters as she clings to Hecate.

When Gabriel arrives home several moments later he finds them this way.

_Artemis_


	7. Deity

_Yay, next chapter. I've taken a step to tie this into canon a little bit more, even if it's pretty far outside of canon as it stands. Sorry it took me so long, David Eddings, beads and gardening distracted me a little to that the problems that we've been having getting chapters posted and it's been absolute hell. I've been tearing my hair out with frustration so thanks to The Singing Duck for passing on Kiratoya's fix for it. Saved me a headache or two and a lot of screaming.  
_

Deity.

Hecate has existed for thousands of years. She has seen civilisations rise and fall. Over the course of those years she has been revered as a goddess, worshiped and raised above all others with followers by the score. She has also been forgotten and abandoned, treated as a horror and a servant of the devil. The years have not always been kind to her, have blessed her with more enemies than she would care to count and fewer friends than she would like.

In all that time there has only been one presence that has been comforting, one presence that has been forgiving towards her even after all the mistakes that she has made in her dealings with him. In all that time there has only been one that she would trust as completely as she does now. Gabriel has been such a constant part of her life, more than even her own pantheon, and she cannot imagine the world without him.

It is frightening to be so connected to one being in all of reality, to have one person about whom her entire life seems to revolve. In some ways it has been a long time in coming, every one of them has the capacity to love if they would only look past politics and into the deepest wish of their hearts. In others it could be seen as a disaster. It leaves Hecate and Gabriel, both, vulnerable to outside attack and that is something that neither one of them can afford. The others could make existence very difficult for them, if they do not decide to kill them, and the turmoil in Heaven has Gabriel permanently on edge.

The addition of Hel into their little family has had a soothing effect on both archangel and goddess. The younger deity has no expectations of Loki, has no need for him to behave as a father to her. Even before Gabriel took control of the god's damaged shell Hel had not seen her father for centuries, she expects nothing more than to get to know a father who she barely had a chance to associate with. It is tiring, remembering to address Gabriel as Loki while Hel is in the house, but it has been worth it just to see the archangel realise the responsibilities that come with being a parent. Even though Hel is full grown, and has long been declaring that she neither needs nor wants her father's approval, it quickly emerges that the love of a father is precisely what she craves.

For a few months everything relaxes into something domestic, a home that Hecate can be happy in and relationships that she had never before realised that she wanted.

That all changes one day when she goes to The Library to check up on the books. Ever since they discovered the renegade Balthazar in The Library Gabriel has been asking her to leave it alone, asking her not to concern herself with the books. She knows that it is because the archangel fears that she will run into Balthazar again and this time the renegade will not just let her walk away. She cannot, however, just leave the books unchecked and unguarded. There is too many dangerous volumes in that place and too much that could fall into the wrong hands. Which is apparently exactly what has happened. The alcove that Balthazar has used to hide his strange collection of pilfered holy objects remains untouched, largely because not even the most fanatic of gods or monsters will cross a seal created by an angel, but also because it is unlikely that the weapons of Heaven are what the thieves were after. She suspects that this is largely because only three beings know that the weapons are there.

Simply walking into The Library tells her that someone has been there who should not have been, wards that have long been established to alert council members to unauthorised intruders have been damaged or shattered. With no council to alert, and Hecate's tie to this place being one of choice rather than duty, there is no one for the wards to alert. The intruder could have been in this place at any time in the last two months and there is no way for her to know for certain. It is easy, however, to find out what has been taken because it is the place where the destruction ends.

Ladon's book is missing and Hecate knows that this can only mean one thing.

Someone is intending on raising the Mother of All and this is a potential disaster for _everyone_. It took the gathered deities of all the pantheons a great deal of effort to get her locked away. There is fewer of them now than ever before and locking her away again is going to be hard. They need to find that book.

Gabriel is blasé about the whole thing, he only really sees the war in Heaven as an immediate threat and Hecate supposes it is because he never saw the effort that it took to shut her away and the damage that she caused all on her own. Hel is rather more alarmed, though it was before her time she has still heard tales of the Mother.

It makes Hecate wish that Gaia were still here to guide her.

_Artemis_


	8. Assumptions

_I'm away for the weekend and I figured that I would put this up tonight before I go. Once again I'm trying to tie into season 6 canon and I'm also trying to explain a few other things, like how the Djinn found Dean in the first place._

Assumptions.

Gabriel has a history of making mistakes. Most beings in the universe do and the only ones that he really needs to worry about are the ones with the potential to get him killed. As of this moment in time there is nothing that stands out as a possibility given that as far as most of the world is concerned _Gabriel_ is dead and only _Loki_ survives. As far as most of the world is concerned Gabriel and Loki were never the same entity and those that _do_ know the truth about his dual personality know only what they need to.

The problem comes when he happens to spot Sam Winchester in a small town in Maine. He had gone there to mess with a proffessor who is a little too interested in children with every intention of making his little prank into something _very_ deadly. Unfortunately, Sam is aware of both his M.O. and his real identity, even the slightest hint that he is in town will alert that younger Winchester to the fact that he is alive. Gabriel does not need dumb and dumber on his tail again making impossible demands. Besides which, Sam should not even be above ground right now and where he goes Dean follows. The archangel is simply not in the mood to deal with them and he does not want to think about how Sam got out of the pit. Castiel can deal with it, the resurrected angel will always be the one that Dean turns to anyway and Gabriel has his own suspicions about that as well.

The old adage about assumptions, it would seem, still holds true.

Gabriel loiters, waiting to see what kind of state Sam is in and how Dean is taking it. Sam's only companion, however, is an older man who most certainly should not be walking the earth and there is a darkness to the Winchester boy that Gabriel has rarely seen in a human before. Those he has seen it in are the worst kind of murderer, the darkest of souls. Gabriel does not waste time pulling pranks on that sort; he kills them as soon as he finds them, because they are too dangerous to be allowed to roam the world and too dark _not _to catch the attention of a trickster god. It makes him worry. Sam has obviously been brought back for a reason, and that cannot possibly be anything good when he has been returned to the world without Dean in tow and with such a stain on him.

"I could watch him, Father," Hel says as he explains what he has discovered to his lover and the daughter of his vessel.

"It's dangerous, Hel," Hecate tells her, dark eyes searching those of the younger goddess for a hint of understanding. She has told Gabriel more than once that though Hel does not seek Loki's affection, she is eager for his approval.

"I know, I'm prepared to take the risk."

"None of us will be," Gabriel cuts in. "Sam Winchester has come too close to costing me my existance too many times, and I won't allow either of you to get involved. Dean is another thing altogether. Sam's the smart one, if I didn't know better I'd say that the kid has eyes in the back of his head. Dean's the dog and _Sam _is the bone that he gnaws at. Give him a problem with baby bro and Deano will move mountains and threaten angels to get his answers. We drag him back into it and we'll find the answers we need. Shouldn't take much to get it out of him."

"You're not just going to be able to walk up to him and demand an answer, you know," Hecate points out. "He thinks you're dead." The goddess is curled against his side, her head resting on his shoulder as her long fingers dance absently across her abdomen. Gabriel has his suspicions about why she has been making that same gesture every time he has seen her over the last couple of days, but he is keeping it to himself. She has not said anything to him about it, though the movement is a new one, and he is not going to press anything when he is finally building a family for himself that is not one of grace and arrogance.

"Wouldn't be the first time I've popped up and taken him by surprise," Gabriel shrugs. "It's good for him, stops his brain from dribbling out of his ears: if he _has_ a brain that is."

"If he gets back in contact with Castiel," Hecate starts and then stops herself as her eyes dart over to Hel. The girl is aware, has to be aware, that there is a lot that has happened the last several centuries that she cannot possibly be told. A lot has happened that they cannot make her aware of for the safety of all. Gabriel hopes that she understands that even though this deceit is completely necessary.

"If it happens I'll deal with it," Gabriel tells her. "Someone dragged that Winchester away from Michael and Lucifer's undivided attentions. Those two are so vindictive they make me look like a cuddly teddy bear."

"Really?" Hel laughs and Gabriel shoots a glance at her.

"I don't know that we need to share that with anyone," Hecate huffs against his chest as he speaks, the gentle whisper of warm air causing him to catch his breath sharply. "Why work when we don't have to? Let the older moron brother handle the younger." He snaps them all up a bowl of ice cream as he continues to ponder the strange return of Sam and the problems that it could cause. "Leave getting Dean's attention to me, I know all the right buttons to press, and I've got an old friend who can handle getting the information out of him."

Hecate glances up at him but does not respond. Gabriel knows that she is not happy, knows that she wants him to focus less on the Winchesters and more on the Mother of All. Gabriel _has_ to worry about the brothers, however, because Sam should not be out of Hell. The archangel has to be prepared and he half suspects that the resurrection of Sam will eventually be tied to the Mother.

It looks very much like his assumptions are going to come back and bite him.

_Artemis_


	9. Nest

_A short one for you all today, just the answer to a couple of questions that came up from the last chapter. Please read the author's note at the end._

Nest.

Hecate and Gabriel are curled up in bed together when the archangel's curiosity finally gets the better of him. Even though neither of them actually _needs_ to sleep, they have come to enjoy these quiet hours of the night when they can simply lie close to one another. Gabriel would be the first to admit that he loves being able to do this. He loves the way that it feels to hold her, the coolness of her skin and the smoothness of her flesh under his fingers. He likes the way that she buries her face in his chest and the tickle of her red black hair. He finds a moment of contentment every time that they curl around one another in a tangle of limbs, the possessive curl of her leg over his and the tender brush of his fingers through her hair.

He has come to cherish these quiet moments.

This is probably why his need to understand Hecate's peculiar need to stroke across her abdomen strikes at it's hardest in this moment. Hecate has never been one to do something without reason, Gabriel knows, which is part of what makes this new gesture so maddening. Even now, curled together as they are, her fingers are pressed flat between them and he reaches to touch the back of her hand with his own. The archangel is shocked by how much it hurts when she flinches away from him.

"I'm sorry," she breathes as she stares at him, tears and terror filling her eyes at something she must see on his face. "I didn't mean..."

"What's wrong?" He demands instead, voice hard with the fear of rejection and abandonment that slices through him. Gabriel has lost one family. He can barely stand the thought of losing another.

"Gabriel," she presses her lips to his. It is a soothing kiss that is so full of tenderness and love that it almost causes him physical pain. When she pulls away, however, he can still see that terrible fear in her eyes. He does not know what has put it there, or why she would feel it when she looks at him, but she is the one being in the world that he does not _want _to fear him.

"Tell me what's wrong," he touches her cheek, watches as she turns away from his gentle hand and hides her face in his chest. "Hecate?" She stays silent. "You're scaring me, Babe," he admits finally, the words perhaps as terrifying as the way that Hecate has withdrawn from him.

"I did something very stupid," she says after another moment of silence. "I should have told you before but with the others and Freyja and Hel being here so often," she pauses. "I got a little distracted one evening..."

Gabriel remembers that evening, actually. He remembers how she joined him in bed one night still wearing the virginal form of the maiden goddess rather than that of the mother. At the time he thought nothing of it and they had quickly become distracted with one another. It had not been until they were actually _joined _that either of them noticed that she was _still _in the form of the maiden. Neither of them discussed it at the time but for days afterwards Hecate had been withdrawn.

That was nearly three months ago, however, and until now Hecate has not brought the subject up. The only thing that has seemed off is that she has remained in the maiden's form.

"If you don't want me to stay here with you I'll understand," she is still talking and it brings him out of his thoughts. " I don't know how it works for angels..."

"You've lost me," he mutters. "It's hard, I know, but how about we pretend that I have _no_ idea what you're talking about at the moment? We can return to my spectacular all knowing godhood later."

"I'm _pregnant_," she blurts, staring at him incredulously and with the concern of a woman who is not certain that this is what her lover wants. "We should have talked about it first and I'm sorry."

"We'll need to build a nest," the archangel says almost absently, watches as her eyes widen slightly in alarm and cannot help but laugh as he crushes her to him. It does not take her long to realise that he is joking and he catches her in a passionate kiss.

Gabriel is going to be a father and he has never felt so joyous.

_Ok, poll time! I need baby names, one for a boy and one for a girl from each of my lovely readers. I'll pick the three ones that I like best of each sex and give you a couple of chapters to submit the names. _

_Artemis  
_


	10. Couple

_This should have been up last night, but for some reason the site wouldn't let me log on. Fixed now, though, and I can get my chapter up. Yay! Also, I'm taking liberties with mythology again, there's a real surprise..._

Couple.

They keep Hecate's condition under wraps for as long as possible. It is not until the slender goddess begins to show that any of the others really begin to notice. Hel, naturally it seems, is thrilled at the news that a new life will emerge among them after so many centuries of childless stagnation.

His quiet conversation with Hecate, however, has done little to lessen the anxiety of his lover. There is something that concerns her, still, and no matter how hard he tries nothing he does will get her to talk to him. They still have a few secrets from one another, neither one of them finds it easy to be completely open, but that she is keeping something relating to _their_ child from him fills the archangel with concern. Remarkably, when he asks Hel about it the younger goddess is just as close lipped about it.

Ultimately it is someone else that he gets his answer from.

Isis and Osiris are one of the few bonded pairs in all the pantheons who have remained completely loving and loyal to one another throughout the course of history. As it turns out they are also very fond of Hecate and have been supporting her fiercely against the outcry of the others for her choice of mate. As far as Isis is concerned, and thus Osiris apparently, if Hecate wants to be with Loki she can be. The heart, after all, wants what it wants, even those of the gods. The arrival of Isis, Osiris, and Horus, their son, seems to shatter something in Hecate. The normally composed goddess rushes to the embrace of the Egyptian and weeps. When Gabriel tries to go to her, Osiris steps in.

"Let Isis comfort her, Loki," he says as leads Gabriel to one side. "We need to discuss a few things."

It turns out that Horus has been brought along to distract Hel. The pair has only really met briefly in the past but it appears that those meetings were tense with desire and unrealised mutual interest. Gabriel can foresee certain fatherly duties taking place in the relatively near future, but for the moment he is more concerned about Hecate. For the moment he has the rather ominous words of Osiris to occupy his mind.

"You know what's wrong with her, don't you?" Gabriel demands. The nod of the god sends a blast of agony through him, to think that Hecate would confide in this couple over and above her own lover.

"You must understand, Trickster, Hecate has not kept this secret to cause you harm. She has kept it to protect you." Osiris's deep voice is grave, his dark eyes serious.

"From what?" Gabriel demands. "What, exactly, does she need to protect me from?"

"We fear that some one of your enemies will make an attempt on the life of your child," the Egyptian says finally. Gabriel feels the dark of rage fall over him.

"Only once," he growls and Osiris shakes his head.

"Then what? How many attacks until you are injured? How many until you're killed? What use will you be to them if we have to bury you? You're not _thinking_, Loki, and that has always been your weakness. Your bond is not like that which I share with my wife; it is not like any we have ever seen before. As a couple you glow with that love and it is not simple dislike which has turned the others from you both. Envy has soured the opinions of even those who would have remained neutral to this had you only showed some restraint."

"This bond saved my life," the archangel points out though he knows that Osiris is right. He knows that eventually someone would get in a lucky shot, he knows that eventually someone would push him into lashing out with more of his grace than is wise and that will be all it takes to alert his brothers that he is still alive. If his angelic brethren are made aware of his continued existence it will only be a matter of time before they come for him. It will not be long until they slaughter the goddess he loves as a punishment for his choice. "There's something else you're not telling me," the realisation comes not long after he concludes that Hecate is right to worry about an attack proving rather more fatal than it should. Angels are not completely immune from the powers of the pagan gods after all.

"It's been a long time since any of us embraced the idea of parenthood, Loki," Osiris points out, "and always in the past there were those of us who would gladly aid in the birthing process to minimise the risks to the person of the goddess."

"I'm aware," the reply is sullen. Gabriel may not have actually lived through the experience himself, but the part of him that will now always be tied to Loki knows how it all works.

"You are both out of favour, and that means that none of the others is willing to act as midwife to Hecate when the time comes."

"She's afraid that she won't have any help when she gives birth?" Gabriel asks. Goddesses, and gods for that matter, have been giving birth for millennia; he cannot imagine her being so afraid of it.

"She's afraid that without the help she will not survive this time. The last time Hecate gave birth it nearly killed her. It was Artemis who saved her then, it will not be Artemis this time." This is something that Gabriel was unaware of, something that chills him to the centre of his being when he thinks that without someone nearby who knows what they are doing the one he loves could die.

"Will Isis be with her?" Gabriel whispers. It is the only thing he can think of that might cause a lessening to Hecate's worry.

"Of course," Osiris's nod is grave, his dark eyes serious. "Hecate has been a dear friend to us and to see her so happy with another is a relief. Isis and I will do all that we can for you both."

The sentiment is one that fills Gabriel with warmth, even though he knows that most of the regard of the Egyptians is directed at his lover and not toward him. He cannot begrudge her this, however, when it is so clear that this close friendship is one that will help ease the concerns that have made her so distant over the last several weeks.

He only hopes that all of their fears will come to nothing.

_Artemis_


	11. Binding

_Ok, next chapter and I appear to be on something of an inspirational role. That said, it's worth getting this out now before the end of Hellatus totally distracts me tomorrow or Saturday while I scrabble around for a computer that isn't from the dark ages of computing._

Binding.

Gabriel is reading when he comes across it, sparking an idea that lingers for days and refuses to be locked away or denied. The book is one of Gaia's that Hecate has brought from the library in order to protect it better; a detailed description of the lives and customs of the pagan pantheons. Many of them Gabriel is aware of, has been a part of over his time as Loki, others come as a complete surprise to him. The majority of them are easily brushed aside. The customs surrounding bonding, however, are news to him.

Gabriel has never taken the link that he shares with Hecate for granted, and he has never assumed that it is something that she has entered into lightly. He is aware that it was not her preferred option for joining him with Loki in the first place, just as he is aware that she spent a great deal of time trying to break it. The fact that she has accepted both it and him makes him very happy, but there is now that nagging thought that she could regret it. There is now the worry that they have gone about this all in the wrong way.

Now that she is going to have his child Gabriel has taken to thinking back on their relationship. He has taken to thinking about all the time together that they have lost over the years that they spent apart, the amount that he had to grow in order for him to see that his attraction to Hecate was mutual. It gives him time to mourn on the thought that though they have made small gestures to show their love and affection for one another, though they have saved each other's lives, neither one has ever made a romantic gesture to that end. Normally such a thought or action is the furthest thing from Gabriel's mind, a fleeting moment of thought where he will snap up a playmate to give her a massage or prepare her favourite sweet treat from the air around them.

He has never once been deliberately romantic.

Nor has she, really, when he lets himself think about it. Every now and again he will see a sparkle in her eyes, a momentary hint that she might give it a try, before the impulse seems to be gone. The idea has been nagging at him for days, and the more he thinks about it the more he reasons that it is a good one. The more he considers the possibility that it is a good idea the more he knows that it is something that they should do. It makes him think that this is just what they need to show the others that they are completely serious about what they are doing, it makes him think that perhaps it will get the message across to the others that neither one of them is ashamed of their love for one another.

More than that, however, it makes him realise just _how_ much he really does love her. It makes him realise that he does not want to do this for the political reasons, or for the security that it will give them in leaving them unchallenged. He wants to do this because he wants to be with her. He wants to do this so that he can show her just how much he loves her.

It may well be the most important question that he ever asks her and he needs to get the setting just right.

Hecate is nearly five months pregnant by this point, her stomach seems to be getting larger every day and she is starting to show the strain of extra weight and extra hormones. The scene he sets in their luxurious bathroom is sensitive to that. He sets lightly scented candles around their large bath, big enough for two, and fills it with hot water. Sticky baklava is placed next to a sweet grape juice, strawberries and Belgian chocolates also form a part of their bath time picnic.

"What's all this for?" Hecate asks as she disrobes. Her gait is a little less graceful now, the skin of her abdomen taught. Gabriel stands behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder and his hands on her stomach so that he can feel the brief shift of the developing life inside her. She leans back against him as he brushes his lips against her neck, feeling the gentle tickle of her red black hair and the cool press of her skin.

"Can't I do something nice for the mother of my child?" He asks. She laughs, the vibrations of it rippling through him until she steps away and gets into the tub.

"Sometimes you do," she grins at him, shuffling so that he can join her, "but it's usually when you want something."

He has to concede that point. Gabriel and Hecate have been together too long for meaningless gestures. This is far from meaningless, however, as far as Gabriel is concerned this may be the most important thing he has ever done in his existence.

"I've been thinking," he starts and she laughs at him, her eyes sparkling with the inevitable but undelivered jibe. "I'm serious, Hecate. Will you join with me in the Binding Ceremony?"

Her silence is stunned, dark eyes luminous with tears. Though they are already bonded the Binding Ceremony is ancient and powerful. Few couples have ever taken part in it and the significance of it is astounding to them both. This is an open and clearly visible declaration that they belong to each other; this will place Hecate's mark upon Gabriel and his brand upon her. There will be no turning back from this, no changing their minds at a later date.

"Yes," she breathes. "Always."

He thinks for a long moment that his heart may burst from the chest of his vessel as he gathers her into his arms and kisses her for a long time.

_Fluffy mush! What's going on with my head?_

_Artemis  
_


	12. Fire

_I'll be honest, I'm not sure how happy I am with this chapter. Then again I've rewritten it five times and can't make it better so I've given up. I've also come up with a cliffhanger for the next one! Get me!_

Fire.

The news that Gabriel and Hecate have chosen to formalise their bond with one another through the Binding Ceremony is greeted with a great deal of shock. The tradition has long been ignored as meaningless, a ceremony that was used to simply confirm before everyone a bond that has been forbidden since Aphrodite and Hephaestus. It is common knowledge that something Hecate and Loki have done together has bound them at the core level, at what would be a soul if they were human, but not a single one of the others knows what that is. Not a single one of them understands _why_ the goddess would chose him in the first place.

Hecate has always been much respected by the others; her power and standing in a society that feared and revered her has always drawn attention, as has her ability to retain worshippers over the countless centuries of their existence. It has made her powerful in their eyes and no one understands why she would chose _Loki_ of all the gods in the universe to be her bond-mate. Hecate has no interest in justifying her choice to them, has no interest in telling them that there is infinitely more to Loki than they can ever understand or comprehend. As far as she is concerned she is having his child, she is bound to him in every way that matters and the only part that is outstanding will soon be taken care of.

The Binding Ceremony is not something that Hecate would have considered before now, not because she has no interest in it but because she has never met someone that she would wish to go through it with. Gabriel has changed all of that, the archangel has waltzed into her life and carved himself out a place in it that the goddess had never been aware was available. She knows that this is something that she will never regret, something that she has wanted without realising it.

At just over five months pregnant she has debated long and hard about when to hold the ceremony, whether to wait until after the child is born or to do it now while Gabriel is still all for the idea. Ultimately it is decided for her by Isis. The other goddess offers to officiate the ceremony and one of the dictates is that no god with the blood of either of the participants on their hands is allowed to perform the ceremony. Aiding Hecate with the birth of her child will qualify as blood on her hands. With Gaia out of the picture, Hecate would like her dearest friend to perform that ritual which will cement and confirm that relationship she has so privately taken on.

It will be good to allow the others to see just how much the one they call Loki really means to her.

It is also the sort of thing that will paint targets on them. Even though Hecate has been all but cast out of the pantheons because of her association with Loki such a high profile ceremony will surely draw their attention back to her. It would draw the attention of those who are jealous of the good fortune she has found at the hands of a god reviled and despised by so many for so much. There are many who would like revenge on Loki for some insult, whether real or imagined, and that will put Hecate directly in the firing line. There is no better way to hurt a god than to attack the one that he really loves or slaughter his child.

Hecate knows that Gabriel will protect her, his desire for the ceremony proves that.

The Binding Ceremony itself is very simple, a gathering of gods and goddesses in the holy place of the couple who are to be bound. Since the couple are from two different pantheons they have chosen the council chamber as the venue. It has been decorated simply, with little more than pale red bunting and belladonna flowers. This is not a ceremony to display their bond and rub their love into the noses of the others.

The magic of this ceremony is simple, the binding of their hands with a red ribbon and the whisper of words that promise an eternity together of respect and love. The entirety of the words spoken are known in full to very few, the spell itself is a powerful one and even spoken by accident the words could have a permanent effect. As the promises are uttered and true names breathed into a profound hush that swallows them with no indication of acknowledgement, the ribbon gradually seems to glow. Finally, a brilliant rush of fire engulfs the binding, drawing a gasp of awe from the gathered masses of gods and goddesses.

When the flames finally dim and clear there is no sign of injury to the couple, only the curl of red that seems to shimmer under their skin. They are marked and bound to one another and Hecate knows that there will only be one other event that will make her happier than this moment: the birth of their child.

_Artemis_


	13. Protecting

_So I'm updating quickly at the moment. Very quickly. There's a good reason for this. At the end of this season of Supernatural I've told myself that I have to spend two months finishing my serious novel, the one I'm supposed to try and get published (because we all know how likely _that_ is to happen.). As a result I want to get as much of my fanfiction as possible finished so that I don't leave too many people hanging on for their answers. Updates will be random and frequent so that I can achieve this._

Protecting.

After the ceremony things seem to go a little quieter for Gabriel and Hecate. The others seem to be a little less inclined to cause trouble for them. Both know that this period of tranquillity cannot last but both are willing to take advantage of it while it does.

Gabriel takes the opportunity to quietly restart his activities as Loki. The pranks are nowhere near the level of viciousness from only a few years before, but at the moment the archangel does not want to draw attention to himself. Hecate is also taking time to focus on her duties, on her worshippers and friends. When her child is born all her attention will be dedicated to the baby, to nurturing and raising it. Unless Gabriel or Hel is willing to care for the baby Hecate will not be able to go anywhere without the child and that will make her duties all that much more dangerous.

Bizarrely, of late, many hunters have been turning to her for advice as more and more of the creatures that should not exist in this part of the world put in an appearance. Hecate is always careful when dealing with them. Even though she has been their patron goddess for longer than she cares to admit it does not mean that she is foolish enough to _trust_ them.

As far as friendships go the bonded pairs have been quick to accept Hecate and Loki into their rather exclusive company. Even those who are unhappily bonded are eager to spend time with them, happy to see that such an ancient tradition has been revived through such an open and deeply loving relationship.

"What's it like?" Aphrodite asks. "Being bonded with Loki? I always believed him to be something of a barbarian."

They are sat on a bench enjoying the warm night air and looking at the shimmering reflection of the moon on the sea. A breeze blows the soft tang of salt air across them and Hecate rests her hands on her stomach so that she can feel the repeated kicks of her child. It fills her with a peculiar contentment. The silver light of the moon picks up the gentle glow of the red markings on her hands. The evidence of her bond to Loki is invisible to the human eye but to any of the other gods it is a sign of how healthy their relationship is. By contrast Aphrodite's is brown and dead looking, with jagged edges and tears that mar the lines. It is little wonder to Hecate that one so beautiful would resent it. It is easy to see why she would be envious of Hecate's luck in her choice of mate.

"We've been bonded for so long I hardly really know how to describe it," Hecate shrugs, turning her attention from the moon and looking at the blonde goddess.

"You shine with it," Aphrodite whispers to her. "I don't think that any of us have ever seen a bond so strong before."

"We have our bad days," Hecate admits, "but he's not so much of a savage. He can be very gentle when it suits him. I think he'll be a good father." They sit in almost silence for a while, Hecate embarrassed by her admission and Aphrodite is lost in her own thoughts. "What are you doing here, Aphrodite?" She asks softly.

"I'm doing what I have to so that I can survive, Hecate. Not all of us have a mate who will break the rules to give us what we want." The bitterness in unmistakable, the all consuming pain of a woman trapped with a man she cannot love and who despises her in return.

Aphrodite's tactics are simple, women pray to her for the love of a man who seems to never to notice her. She gives the women that love, an obsessive lover that drives the girls to murder or suicide. Aphrodite counts it as a good day when it leads to both. It is not a method that Hecate is fond of, certainly not one that she would employ herself, and it is something that is going to get Aphrodite noticed. It is something that already _has_. The other goddess already knows what Hecate is referring to, of course, but this is not something that she is going to stop. This is a feast time for her and she is not going to deny herself that.

"Well isn't this nice?" A bald human male comments as he steps around the bench and Hecate is surprised to realise that she recognises him. Both goddesses are on their feet, Aphrodite stepping in front of Hecate and protecting her from the crossbow pointed at her abdomen. Hecate puts a hand on her shoulder, trying to get the taller goddess to move to one side. It is shrugged off and Aphrodite takes her eyes off the hunter in front of them for a moment to glare at her. It turns out to be fatal.

"We don't need both of them, Samuel," a youthful voice says as a taller, younger male steps out of the shadows. He has his own crossbow and has taken a shot before any one of them can speak. "The pregnant one has more to lose."

Aphrodite cries out once as the bolt, one of evergreen wood, pierces her chest and Hecate catches her in her arms as she stares up at Sam Winchester. Campbell glares at his grandson, obviously not happy with his actions, and then turns his attention back to Hecate.

"I'm sure you're aware of how this will go if you don't come quietly."

Hecate has time for one panicked push against her bond before Samuel Campbell's still loaded crossbow is pressed against her stomach.

_Cliffhanger! Haven't had one of those for a while._

_Artemis_


	14. Madness

_Umm, yeah, don't hate me for this one? Please? It took a little longer because cowboy!Dean and Sam broke my brain. Really broke my brain. With all that yummy it was hard to concentrate on the angst._

Madness.

Gabriel feels the frantic press of Hecate's magic against her bond to his grace as he is returning to their home. The fear and panic there almost knocks his feet from under him. His first thought is that she has gone into labour, that she is about to give birth to their premature child and given her last experience he can understand why she would be afraid. He very rapidly concludes that this is not what has caused her to call for him, this is not why she is so panicked. Hecate knows how to react to the birth of their child, she would know to call for Isis and to return to their home.

That she has not come back is Gabriel's primary cause of worry. Even in labour she would have enough presence of mind and magic to return to a safe place. It has always been that way among the gods and he cannot think why she would not immediately come to him.

Instead he reaches for their link, lets it pull him to where she is and what he finds brings a mask of red fury over his eyes. His first instinct is to kill the humans before him and it is with a great deal of difficulty that he restrains himself.

It is bad enough that hunters would kill one of the pagan gods, bad enough that Aphrodite lies still and vacant eyed at Hecate's feet. What makes it worse is that they have a crossbow loaded with an evergreen stake pointed at her abdomen. Pointed at _his_ child. He can acknowledge that it is the natural instinct of the hunters to kill pagan gods, flesh eaters, but seeing them threaten his bonded mate is too much.

"I'd let her go if I were you," he tells them. His voice is low, deadly, a threat that does not need words to be put to it.

"You're supposed to be dead." Sam Winchester is one of the culprits, the spent crossbow in his hand evidence that he was the one to kill Aphrodite.

"So are you," Gabriel responds, regarding Sam warily and finally putting a name to the face of his companion. "_Both_ of you."

"Who is this?" Campbell demands, taking hold of Hecate's arm as he swing his crossbow to point it at the archangel. Gabriel smirks at him.

"Don't waste your arrows," Sam cuts in. "What's _your_ interest in her?" His attention turns back to Hecate and Gabriel sees a light come into his eyes that the archangel finds disturbing. This is not the Sam that he knows.

"None of yours," his reply is short, curt, his anger still tightly reined in. Gabriel has only lost control a few times in his existence, most of them involving Hecate in some way, but he knows that this time he cannot afford to. If he moves the wrong way, says the wrong thing, both his mate and his child will be murdered and not even the death of the two hunters responsible will satisfy him then.

"Then us asking her a few questions shouldn't be a problem," Campbell replies, missing the dangerous way that Gabriel's eyes narrow. "If you can't tell us why you're interested in her then you won't mind us borrowing her for a few days."

"Loki..." Hecate's eyes are wide and frightened, it is an expression that he had hoped never to see there again and it makes it harder still not to shove Sam out of the way and go to her.

"Does she even know the truth about you?" Sam asks, his eyes sparkling with a cruel light that Gabriel has never see there before and cannot fathom where it has appeared from.

"I know everything about him," Hecate replies, her voice trembling a little. "I know more about him than either of you could hope to."

"You know how dangerous he is, then," Sam tells her. "You know that he's been lying to you for centuries, you know that Lucifer should have killed him. You know that it was his brilliant plan that got me shut in Hell."

"I know it all," Hecate hisses, eyes flickering to the crossbow that Campbell still holds pointed at Gabriel. She could tear her arm out of the hunter's grip in an instant, the archangel knows, but that would prompt the man to fire his weapon and there is no way of knowing which way it would go. Either way, Gabriel knows that Hecate would end up hurting and he has no desire for that. With a physical anchor to her location, however, there is no way for her to simply vanish. Gabriel will have to get to her so that he can send her away and that is going to be hard.

They stare at each other for a long moment and he sees something in Hecate's face, something that worries him. The pained cry she lets out startles him, has him moving towards her before he has even thought about it, watching in almost panic as her free hand goes to her stomach and she doubles over.

"Gabriel," her voice is soft but anguished. "The baby, oh Hades, the baby."

"You don't come any closer," Campbell warns as Gabriel steps forward. The archangel glares at him and then carries on moving, brushing Sam out of the way with a careless gesture as the younger Winchester approaches. The man goes flying back against a tree, hitting it with a crack and a thump and Gabriel does not care. He has killed many in his time and if this is the action that finally takes Sam's life for good then the archangel will not regret it. He will never regret it if it saves Hecate and their baby.

Campbell obviously recognises the threat that Gabriel poses now, because he points the crossbow back at the goddess he is clinging to.

"I _will_ kill her," he threatens.

"If you kill her I will make sure that you spend the rest of eternity screaming," the archangel's grasp on grace and blood magic is coming unravelled now, causing a glow to fill his eyes and cover his skin. "All of your worst nightmares, every moment of pain you've ever experienced, all the loss and grief from your whole life played over and over again for the rest of time, amplified a thousand times. I'll drive you to madness, restore your sanity and push you over the edge time and again and it will _never_ stop."

The hunter stares at him, eyes wide, then the crossbow swings and the bolt is loosed. Hecate shrieks as the bolt pierces Gabriel's chest. He has never seen her react to his getting staked before, but seeing the way that she is clawing at her chest and how her eyes roll back in her head as she falls to the ground is enough to make him resolve _never_ to let it happen again. He does not even bother to remove it, simply covers the remaining distance between himself and the hunter and picks Samuel Campbell up by his throat. For a very long moment the life of Sam's grandfather hangs in the balance, his breaths becoming gasping chokes as the archangel squeezes. Then Hecate lets out a shuddering scream and Campbell is tossed aside, the bolt pulled from his chest and his goddess scooped up in his arms.

He can come back and deal with the two hunters later. Right now his mate and their child need him and Gabriel has no intention of failing them. As he leaves the scene he sends out a frantic call to Isis and for the first time in centuries he prays to his Father that he is not about to lose the only things that he cares about.

_Like I said, don't hate me..._

_Artemis_


	15. Symphony

_Ah, I've left you all a little bit too long after my last cliffhanger and now I'm going up against our show to boot. Never mind, never let it be said that I don't enjoy a challenge. In truth it's late because a major drama has been unfolding at work and as a consequence I've been up to my eyeballs in researching UK employment law. Yup, it's that bad. I'm safe at the moment, but a dear friend and colleague is not and I promised to help her. Also, big thanks out to Jesse A. Harper who suggested the name of the baby. An Irish-Gaelic name meaning dream, because Gabriel and Hecate are both living theirs and because there is no way that I could justify calling the baby that in Cornish (given that I'm from Cornwall) which would be going a step too far and rather too cruel as well. I just liked the idea of something a little removed from the mythology that their both so deeply entrenched in. I'm strange like that sometimes._

Symphony.

Isis is waiting for them when they arrive at the safe house and Gabriel allows himself a brief moment of hope that perhaps it is simply the stress of their encounter with the hunters that has brought this on. Isis takes one look at Hecate, however, and her face goes bleak.

"She's in labour," Isis says, leading them both to the bedroom which she prepares for the birth with a snap and a gesture. "Your child will have to be delivered now or you will lose them both."

"The baby?" Hecate whispers. "Please, Isis, save my baby."

"If I save the child you _will_ die, Hecate," Isis tells them both. "This will be a difficult enough, I cannot dedicate the energy to saving the baby when I will need all of it to keep you alive."

"I won't lose our baby! Tell her, Gabriel, tell her to sacrifice me!" Gabriel lowers her to the bed, stroking strands of sweat soaked hair from her forehead as he does so. His mate is in pain, in the emotional agony of learning that her baby cannot possibly survive this, he cannot blame her for betraying his secret now. In reality, he should have known that there was always the chance that it would come out.

"'_Gabriel'_?" Isis looks away from her patient to stare at the archangel, her eyes wide and a tremor of anger rushing through her. "Loki, what's going on?"

"It's a long story," he replies, gripping Hecate's hand tight in his own. "We don't have time for it."

"We have time," Isis snaps. "She called you Gabriel, I think that's too important a piece of information to pass up."

"Isis, _please_," he is not above begging at this point. "Hecate is everything to me, this baby will be the one great thing I've done, please." It is the absolute truth, one that he has never been able to admit out loud before. The situation demands it, however, and there is no shame in admitting it now when everything that he cares about is soon to be taken from him.

"What did she mean?" Isis is like a dog with a bone, her eyes flinty even though her hands are firm but caring as she examines Hecate.

"Exactly what she said, Isis," he mutters finally. "I am Gabriel, the archangel. I wanted to hide and Loki was dying. Hecate helped us to reach an agreement that was mutually beneficial and we fell in love. Is that enough?" It is short and to the point, glossing over the things that he does not want to get into with her and the elements of his life that he wants to remain more private.

"The child is half angel?" Isis demands, her eyes now oddly intent. Gabriel nods and he can see the information being processed in the mind of the goddess. "There might be a way that we can do this, a way we can save both. Do you think you can do that, angel? Save your child while I save your wife?"

"I can," he tells her, but even through his worry he is suspicious of her decision. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm giving you a chance, _Gabriel_, nothing more," the anger in her voice is tightly controlled. "You and Hecate have betrayed us all, but it's not my place to sentence her to death in this way. We will deliver the child, if the baby survives we will figure out what to do with it then. You've put me in a terrible position, archangel, I don't thank you for it."

They lapse into silence after that, their attention completely on Hecate as she lets out a scream of agony. It takes hours, a seeming age of screams and curses, a time of whispered apologies and pleas for the life of their child. All the while he strokes her hair and holds her hand. He feels utterly useless, afraid to interfere or use his grace for fear of hurting her and their baby.

Isis's actions have a coil of fear burning through him, the nagging whisper that as soon as the baby is born he should kill this goddess so that she cannot expose them is constant. He tells himself that it is not an option. Hecate's life will be indebted to her and he has known Isis for almost as long as he has been Loki. The _god_ never met them, Isis and Osiris have only ever known Gabriel. He wonders if that will influence them at all. He wonders if knowing that will persuade Isis to let them all live. He has never wanted his child to be anything other than his, loved and raised knowing how utterly it is cherished, he has never considered the baby to be a symbol of peace. Now he thinks that maybe this baby can show Isis of the good that could come of the love shared by an archangel and a pagan. Now he is hoping that this baby will be that key to keeping all of them alive.

He knows that the child will be the driving force behind all of his actions for the future.

"One last push, Hecate," Isis tells her friend softly, large dark eyes concerned and Gabriel knows that she is not expecting the baby to live no matter her words to him. It is too soon for the child to be born, it has been too long and there has been too much stress. Hecate lets out a final scream as she pushes, her grip on his hand hard enough to hurt even him and he holds his breath as he waits.

The body that Isis hands him is limp and still, there is no sign of breathing and barely a hint of a heart beat. Gabriel reaches out towards the tiny being with his grace, carefully unfurling just the smallest part of his true self so that he can examine the shell that should contain the soul-magic of his offspring. The archangel is so intent on the child that he does not hear the questions of his mate, does not notice Isis's responses, his entire focus is establishing whether or not he can save this baby who was not ready to be born.

Eventually, after so long that he is almost ready to give up hope and Isis has already asked him to relinquish his hold of the baby, he sees it. A tiny flash and spark of life and he reaches for it, joining his grace with that hint of power and feeling the soul of his baby reach back to him. The grace that he uses is not a healing grace, rather it is one that encourages the tiny form to grow and mature at a rate that he would never consider promoting under any other circumstances, a rate that replaces just under three months of time to grow with only an hour. It is enough, however, to make sure that this child will survive, enough that this baby will be able to face the world.

His baby, his daughter and her first cry is like the sweetest symphony to his ears.

"Hello, Aislin," he whispers to her, settling next to Hecate so that he can pass his daughter over. Aislin, his child and now the focus of his whole world. He looks at his mate and presses a kiss to her sweat soaked forehead, even for gods childbirth is hard work, and joins her in gazing at their baby for a long moment until another pressing matter intrudes upon his thoughts.

Hecate begins nursing as Gabriel steps away, gestures for Isis to join him on the far side of the room so that they can still see the goddess and child but far enough away that their discussion will not disturb her too much.

"Now what, Isis?" He asks. "You know a secret that we've kept for centuries, you've been our friend for almost as long. Will you betray us?" It is a loaded question and one that he knows will not be easy for Isis to answer.

"Every instinct I own and every law that we have says I should," Isis tells him and he feels his heart fall. He does not want to lose another friend, does not want to lose another ally and make more enemies. "Your kind and mine have been enemies for so long. In siding with you Hecate has betrayed us all and yet..." She pauses.

"What?" He asks, tension racing through him even as a moment of hope dares to make itself known.

"You've brought so much wonder to us all, both of you. You've risked losing everything for the sake of your daughter, you tied yourself to Hecate in grace and magic and soul. I've never seen a love like it, Gabriel, and it's brought us all so much hope. I will need to talk to Osiris, but exposing you _now_? I fear if we do that it will destroy the fragile peace that we have worked so hard to maintain. We have lost too much already this day."

"Thank you, Isis," his gratitude is real and heartfelt. "I promise you that I will avenge Aphrodite's death. She died to save my mate, I'll make certain that those hunters know better than to approach us again."

"I know you will, old friend," Isis touches his cheek briefly, a fleeting smile touching her face even though her eyes are still filled with sorrow. "Go and be with your wife, you will need each other a great deal in the coming weeks."

He does as he is told, not noticing Isis leave and not allowing himself to think on her words. He has not want to consider the danger that they are in right now, does not want to think about what might happen if Isis does not remain silent. At this moment he only wishes to enjoy his time with his family. With Hecate and Aislin; the two most important things in his world.

_Artemis_


	16. Breakdown

_My brain couldn't decide what I wanted from this chapter, nice and domestic or bloody and violent, so I went with a bit of both. The temptation to just write pages and pages of Gabriel being a daddy is very powerful. Maybe next chapter._

Breakdown.

Gabriel stays with Hecate and Aislin for a week before he decides to make good on his promise to Isis. While he bonds more fully with his wife and daughter the others reel from the death of one of the oldest among them. Gabriel is aware that he owes the goddess and the rest of her kind a great debt, he knows that without Aphrodite's sacrifice Hecate would quite probably be dead. He knows that had Hecate died his daughter would have too.

At this moment he is sat in one of the old chairs by the fire, his bare chest bathed in the orange light of the flames and his tiny daughter curled up over his heart sleeping. Hecate is leaning in the doorway, her face soft as she gazes at them and her eyes full of so much love that it is almost overwhelming. It chills him to think that he nearly did not have this. It scares him that he nearly lost this chance for a second time. After Elizabeth and the son he never knew he had not dared to hope for something like this again.

"A picture would last longer," he tells his mate, closing his eyes and pressing his lips to the top of Aislin's head.

"It would spoil the moment," she whispers, moving closer to him. "Who knew you were such a softie."

"It's a well guarded secret," he responds, feeling his child shift against him. "Everyone has their flaws." It is a fairly philosophical reply and he can see an impressed smirk dance across her face before it is replaced with something else, replaced with concern.

"What are you going to do, Gabriel?" She asks. "About Isis, I mean."

"Nothing, you and Aislin are more important at the moment. If I have to deal with her I will, but we don't have so many friends that I'm going to start slaughtering them. Besides, I've got enough to worry about with Gigantor and his zombie Grandpa."

"I'd like to deal with them myself," Hecate takes Aislin as the baby begins to fuss. "It was me that they threatened after all."

"I'm a little bit harder to kill than you are," he points out. "Anyway, I get the feeling that killing them, while preferable, isn't going to be the best idea I've ever had."

"Since when have you been interested in having good ideas?"

"Since Sam knows what I really am and how to kill me, or who to sell me out to," he tells her. "I'm just going to make my point in the most painful way possible and leave."

"Which point it that?" She quietly hushes Aislin as soft mutterings begin to become cries.

"That you're off limits, Aislin's off limits, and that I'm watching them." Something about his tone makes her come closer to him, makes her touch her hand to his cheek and press a soft kiss to his lips. He knows what she is saying without having to ask, knows it by the way that her magic presses at his grace like she is trying to crawl inside him. She is telling him to be careful.

He steps away from them and makes a gesture, changing from comfortable sweat pants and bare chest so that he is now wearing his usual garb for the time; jeans, shirt and khaki jacket. It is a misleading way to dress, especially for what he has in mind, but he has always relied on being unremarkable to move about with a measure of freedom. Most of the other pagans want to be noticed and worshipped, he and Hecate are happy with things the way that they are now. Their little family, her easily monitored followers around the world and his little games with mankind. It is a comfortable way for them to exist and Sam Winchester and his grandfather have upset that.

It is time for him to explain the consequences of that to them.

Finding Sam and his extended family is not difficult. While the Winchester boy is still flying below the radar, so to speak, Campbell's soul is not shielded in the same way. When he appears in their hiding place, however, he finds a few more hunters than he had expected to. It comes as something of a pleasant surprise to know that he will get to take his anger and frustration out on _someone_. The multiple rounds of salt pellets and silver bullets that they fire at him, though, are more of an inconvenience. He snaps his fingers and renders the weapons useless.

"Really?" He asks as he feels Hecate's anger with him over their link. "Do you morons have _any_ idea how annoying that is?" He looks down at the now ruined shirt and jacket and sighs. "I happened to _like_ this." He plucks at his jacket and then snaps it away, replacing it with black leather and a green shirt instead.

"What are you doing here, Gabriel?" Sam demands as he steps forward. He has no weapon in hand, obviously realising just how useless it would be to confront him with one. The other hunters look confused and Gabriel smirks.

"Making a point," he gestures again and the people circling him go flying into the various tables and shelves dotted around the room. "I know you have trouble understanding me sometimes so I'll make sure that I use short, easy to understand, words so that you don't make any more mistakes in the future. I'd hate to have to kill you, _again_, because of a breakdown in communications."

"You can try," Sam snarls, "but no one else's attempts have really stuck."

"It doesn't _have_ to," Gabriel hisses as he slams Sam up against the wall. The hunter is quite a bit taller than him, but Gabriel is still an archangel and he still has the advantage. "It just has to be slow, painful and _messy_." He is well aware that he is cutting off Sam's oxygen at this point, aware of the gasps as Sam struggles to breathe. "So lets get this straight _right_ now: Hecate is off limits, our baby is off limits and, unless your lives are immediately threatened by them, the others are also _off limits_. Am I _completely_ clear?"

He is angry enough that his grace is reacting to everything around him, alerting the angel to the fact that one of the other hunters is approaching him from behind with a knife in his hand. Gabriel has been careful since Lucifer nearly succeeded in killing him. He will never again let himself get into a situation where he does not know what is coming at him, even though coming here unprepared was something of a stupid idea. There is only human hunters here, though, only normal weapons that cannot _hurt_ him but that _are_ annoying.

He snaps the fingers of his free hand, causing the wall to shift and move so that Sam is pinned and confined as he turns. The downward thrust of the other hunter's blade is stopped by a casually raised hand, the sharp crack of breaking bones filling the air as Gabriel nonchalantly crushes the man's wrist and leaves him screaming on the floor.

"The next one of you to try that will end up dead," he says. He cannot risk staying much longer, knows that with Sam bound he cannot draw a banishing sigil but it is only a matter of time before one of the others here realises what they are dealing with. Gabriel is not stupid enough to think that Sam will have kept that little nugget of information to himself. "Am I clear, Samuel?" He asks again, his comment directed at the patriarch of this little group. It is obvious that the older man is in charge.

"Crystal," he grates out, eyes flat with hostility.

"Gabriel!" Sam is struggling against his bonds of brick and plaster. "Next time I see you I'll kill you!" The anger there should frighten Gabriel but instead he laughs, finding it reassuring to know what kind of Sam he is dealing with now.

"I'd like to see you try, Sam," he tells the younger man. "Just remember that if you so much as _try_ to hurt Hecate I'll kill you where you stand, nice and slowly."

He leaves before Sam can respond, but the encounter has left his certain that there is something terribly wrong with Sam Winchester.

_Artemis_


	17. Praise

_I'm monumentally sorry that this took so long to come. As many who have me on alert may have noticed Dean and Castiel once again took over my brain and made me write about them. I would promise that it won't happen again but I think that we all know that's something of a lie. I get distracted easily and those two are a great distraction. I need to start working canon in now, as well, so it's getting harder and harder to write snippets. Also I'm writing with multiple migraines again so I apologise in advance._

Praise.

Gabriel returns from his threatening of Sam Winchester by way of a slightly roundabout route. The war between Raphael and Castiel feels off somewhat, like there is an unknown third party lending power to the lower of the two angels. Loathe as he is to admit it Gabriel knows that Raphael should have defeated the younger brother long before now. As much as he wants to return to his bonded and their daughter, the situation in Heaven has been on his mind for a long while and since he is out and about anyway it is about time that he found out what is happening with Dean Winchester.

The last thing that the archangel expects to see is the hunter living in some approximation of domestic bliss. There is no sign that Castiel has spoken to the man but his presence is all over the grounds around the house, detectable in a way that only another angel can sense. There is warding here, too, wards designed to keep as many of the others away from the house as possible. The only reason that Gabriel gets this close is because he is not entirely an archangel any longer.

Gabriel snoops around for a long while, something about all of this seems off. Castiel is in trouble, a great deal of trouble if Gabriel knows his brother as well as he thinks, and it seems strange that the little angel does not go to the one being in the universe that he trusts absolutely. If there is one thing that Gabriel can recognise it is the absolute trust that Castiel has in Dean Winchester. On a personal level the archangel does not really care for either of the Winchesters, but he can see the appeal to an angel newly aware of free will.

Which is why he cannot understand the reason behind Castiel's covert visit.

It is very clear to the archangel that Dean is unaware of the additional protection around his home. It is also evident that the man has no idea of the trouble that his friend is in. For half a moment Gabriel considers passing on a warning or a hint, he thinks about taking this one small step towards helping the younger brother who showed him standing up to his family could be a worthwhile thing. In turning his back on brothers who would wipe out humanity Castiel found another family that is smaller and far more loyal. It is something that Gabriel had already found and never realised that he had.

By helping the archangel discover this, no matter how inadvertently, Castiel has something of a special place in Gabriel's mind. The archangel monitors the angel's progress when he can and he gathers what information is available from the others when possible. There is precious little out there and his plan to attempt to get the information from Dean seems to have been derailed at realising that the hunter is unaware of both his brother's resurrection and Castiel's difficulties.

Dean's girlfriend catches sight of him on the other side of the street, offers him a nervous smile and turns to say something to someone behind her. This is not the time to be seen, whether he shifts form or not, and Gabriel has a family to get back to. He is gone before she turns her attention back his way.

Hecate is humming when he walks into the living room, a bare foot pressed to the floor and toes flexing as she rocks her chair. On the table beside her Aislin is sleeping in a moses basket and Gabriel takes a moment to bend and place a kiss to his daughter's forehead. Large eyes open for a moment, golden power swirling deep within them, and then his child returns to sleep as though she never woke in the first place. Hecate turns her attention away from the laptop she is using, looking at him with a fond smile and he kisses her in greeting.

"How did it go with Sam?" She asks. There is curiosity in her voice but anger throbs just below the surface. She felt every bullet and every blade that sunk into him through their bond and he can understand that she is upset about it. He knows that Hecate is frightened of losing him, just as he knows that one day someone may get lucky, but he is just as terrified of the idea of losing her. It means that he will take whatever risks necessary to protect her and protect their daughter whether she likes it or not.

"I think he got the point," Gabriel smirks. "I know his cousins did."

"What did you do?" She asks, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Nothing that won't heal," he thinks for a moment. "Maybe. I wasn't paying attention to the damage; I just wanted to make a point." It is an unusual thing for him to admit to, but Gabriel is capable of being honest when it suits him and with Hecate it is always something that suits him.

"Idiot," she laughs fondly. He leans on the back of her chair, tipping it back a little further so that he can look at the screen of her laptop.

"Whatcha doing?" The question is mumbled into her ear, warm breath ghosting across the delicate shell. She shudders and then resumes her typing.

"Gathering praise," the answer is cryptic and he pulls a face as he thinks about it for a moment.

"Isn't that cheating?" It is not that he cares _how_ she gathers her followers, it is good to see that she is moving with the times, it is simply that he has never once considered it. That galls a little bit, because he has always thought of himself as capable of moving with the times.

"Not really, if the others aren't bright enough to come up with it I don't see why I shouldn't. Besides, my high priestess handles most of it." She loads a couple more pages and glances through them. "I'm just keeping an eye on things."

It is certainly an interesting way of gathering followers and Gabriel thinks it is a better one than roaming the streets and immersing oneself into crowds of people for months or years at a time. At the moment that particular route is the best one available to Hecate when she now has Aislin as her primary concern. She seems to have several dozen websites in a variety of languages dedicated to the worship of her and she has neither craved nor needed human flesh as sustenance since he fully bonded with him. For Hecate this is a great way of gathering the power that comes from worship of her without worrying about thinning the ranks too greatly. A startled sound from his wife draws his attention from his contemplation.

"What is it?" He queries.

"Veritas has cottoned on to the idea too. She's got as advanced a network as I do though," Hecate scrolls through a page of basic spells for summoning the goddess of truth. "I almost feel bad for the idiots who decide to follow her path."

"Don't, if they're stupid enough to do it then they're hardly an asset to the human gene pool. Humans need all the help they can get really."

"An interesting opinion for an angel," she smirks at him.

"It depends on the angel you speak to," he reminds her and he knows that she is thinking of Balthazar and Lucifer both. Gabriel is not sure what happened to Balthazar after their encounter in the library, he is not certain that he wants to know, but he has a horrible feeling that his disinterest is going to come back and bite him fairly soon.

In her basket Aislin begins to fuss and Gabriel moves away from his position behind Hecate to pick her up. She gurgles at him when he creates a stream of bright lights for her to watch and he smiles as a wave of protective love surges through him. This is his family, his little family that he will protect at all costs; even from the might of Heaven itself.

_Artemis_


	18. Unexpected

_No words or excuses. I've started the process of tying into season six and it's hard, believe me. Also, Dean and Cas have eaten my brain away. Go figure. _

Unexpected.

Hecate has something of a special fondness for Bobby Singer. The crotchety old hunter has been something of an organisational force among the hunting community for a long time, a go-to man who provides more than simple research for the hunters in the field. It is something that she has toyed with for a quite a while; the idea of gathering the hunters together and forming them into a more effective unit. Her own secret army. Of course, most of them would kill her on sight and the majority are completely unaware of their ties to her. Hecate values her existence and she has no intention of putting herself into a position where she could get herself killed.

It does not mean that she cannot become fond of particular hunters. She knows that they are short lived and that very often they die young, but there is always the odd one who makes it long enough to die in his bed. Part of her intends to do everything in her power to make it so that this is what happens to Bobby Singer. Going up against archangels not withstanding she thinks that she is doing a fairly good job of it. There is just that nagging little detail of the stupid deal that Bobby opted to make with Crowley. He has his work cut out in breaking it and Hecate suspects that he will not manage it without some help from a certain book.

The goddess cradles her daughter in her arms as she stares at the ancient manuscript. This will be the first time in a very long while that she has liked a hunter well enough to step in and take a hand in his existence. It is dangerous, very much so, to sneak this into the hunter's very well guarded house and plant this information where the man will eventually find it. The longer she sits on it, however, the more convinced she becomes that it is the right thing to do. He will never call on her, though the hunter is knowledgeable enough about the various pagans to be aware of her connection to hunters, and so she is convinced that the only way to help him is to slip the information in.

Hecate's fondness for the old man does not simply come from the way that he helps other hunters and even seems to organise them. She has visited him a number of times herself in the guise of a hunter in order to gauge his ability. She found that the gruff manner and generally abrupt behaviour was oddly endearing to her, particularly in light of the fact that he neither patronised nor babied her.

Her fondness for Singer is something that she has argued with Gabriel about in the past. He does not share her opinion of the man, though she suspects that has rather a lot to do with the fact that the old man tried to kill him on one occasion. He has acknowledged, however, that the man is useful to them both. Mostly because Bobby watches over the Winchester boys like a hawk and Gabriel has a rather special interest in those boys. It would worry Hecate if she did not know that the archangel is totally devoted to both her and their daughter. It does not stop the gossip of the other gods from hurting, though, even they have noticed that Loki monitors the activities of the brothers rather more closely than he does his meagre number of followers.

"I'll take it to him," Gabriel says from the window. He is looking out over the city and Hecate turns her attention to him. There is a melancholy to his voice that she does not like the sound of and a part of her knows that it is to do with the war in Heaven. Every day, now, Gabriel reports that another of his former brethren has passed from existence at the hands of one or other of his brothers and she knows that it must be hard for him. The archangel has to keep a much lower profile now that he is supposed to be dead.

"It's better if I do," she disagrees. "Bobby knows me and he's less likely to question the information if I give it to him."

"If Sam's there he'll recognise you," Gabriel warns and Hecate shudders at the thought. In her arms Aislin shifts as she senses her mother's discomfort.

"If he's there I'll call you," she tries to sound reassuring but she knows that it falls short. The truth is; Sam terrifies her. The hunter has come close to costing her life and that of her child and she would not willingly go near him. Gabriel knows that. "I don't want to get any closer to that boy than I have to."

Gabriel waits until she has set Aislin in her crib before pulling her close and pressing his face to her hair. His grip is almost bruising, Hecate is tempted to think that it is desperate, and she knows that he wants her to stay close, knows that he does not want her to go. This is not the first time that Gabriel has been concerned for her safety, she knows that it will not be the last either, and she understands why he feels this way. She is not relishing the idea of waltzing into a hunter's home any more than he is, but if she wants to keep Bobby Singer involved with organising the hunters she needs to keep him alive. Her mate's concern for her now is not unexpected.

Gabriel could stop her, she is well aware of that as well, but she believes that he will not. Indeed, with the way that he is clinging to her now she knows that he is going to allow her to visit Bobby. The archangel may not like it, but the old hunter is important to the Winchesters and those boys are of interest to Gabriel. He will not abuse his power over her because she trusts him not to and that is a trust that he has worked hard to earn.

"Be careful," he tells her instead. "I won't be held responsible for my actions if anything happens to you."

"I promise," she whispers, pressing a brief kiss to the corner of his mouth before looking down at their daughter. "Take care of your daddy, Baby Girl," she smooths a shock of dark hair flat with a sad smile, then turns her eyes on her mate. "Watch over her while I'm gone, Love."

She ripples out of the room before she can change her mind. This will be the first time that she has been separated from her daughter since Aislin's birth and it is not an easy thing. Hecate is walking straight into danger and she knows it.

As it turns out Bobby has guests when she arrives, driving a stolen car and wearing the face of her mother form. These guests have the feel of the supernatural about them, their lives touched by something that they did not understand in a way that has marked them.

"Helen," Bobby's greeting is surprised, his face showing nothing more than that even though she knows that inside he is highly suspicious of her arrival. "Come in."

"Not today, Bobby," she smiles but it is not one that reaches her eyes. Behind him she sees a boy, not yet in his teens, and a woman watching with careful eyes. These people are not hunters and nor are they long term additions to the life of one, she can tell that purely and simply by the fact that Bobby has taken them in. There is only one hunter out there who has taken a woman and gone to try and live a normal life that Hecate can think of. Dean Winchester.

"Why are you here?" The old hunter demands and she holds out the ancient book that she has brought with her.

"Found this on a hunt, heard you were having a few problems and thought it might help," her words are cryptic, she knows that Singer does not like having answers handed to him or asking others for whatever aid he may require. He glares at her. "There's a lot of interesting things in that book, Bobby, and it's old. It doesn't have a place in my car and I thought you might get use out of it. At least I know if I ever need anything out of it I can come to you. You saved my life once, think of this as me repaying the favour." She looks at the boy and woman. "Blessings on you both." The words are ancient, not ones that she uses often, but she has a feeling that both of them are going to need all the help that they can get if they are going to be associated with Dean for any longer.

Hecate can feel Bobby's eyes in her back as she walks back to her stolen car, can feel them burning a hole between her shoulder blades. She will not be able to come back here again. The goddess has aroused too much in the way of suspicion now, has drawn too much attention to herself. She has done what she can, however, and she can only hope that is enough.

_Artemis_


	19. Truth

_Another chapter for you, back to the angsty angst. I love me some angsty angst, and it's paving the way to mesh this with season six. Which is still hard to do, by the way._

Truth.

Gabriel returns to the home that he shares with Hecate to hear the delighted squeals of his four month old daughter. Aislin is not like human children, though he never expected her to be, she is growing and developing rapidly, so much so that she is already displaying behaviours found in babies older than her. She is different, however, a mix of grace and blood power that has never occurred before and he knows that they have no way of knowing what kind of effect on her development this will have had.

Sensing his return her grace pulses over him in greeting. Even with the blood magic of her mother, Aislin's grace is gentle and innocent. It is a strawberry cream swirl of red and white that never fails to be soothing and comforting to him. He has had a close call this day, and knowing that his daughter is content and happy eases his annoyance with himself. When he enters the family room he sees Hecate watching fondly as Hel bounces his daughter on her knees. Aislin giggles as Hel pulls a face at her and then they both turn to look at him.

"Hey, Baby Girl," he greets her, taking her from Hel so that he can give her a loud and sloppy kiss. The baby's squeal of delight as she reaches for his hair makes everyone smile. "Hello, Hel," he greets Loki's daughter, kissing her forehead and feeling a fond love rush through him. Hel may not be his true born daughter, but he is beginning to recognise that he loves her as one.

Gabriel misses very few things about Heaven and as his years on Earth have passed he has found that list growing ever shorter. The one thing he _has_ missed above all, however, is _family_. He has missed the closeness, the security of knowing that he is surrounded by people who love and care for him. Now, it seems, he is building a new family of his own and he is rapidly reaching that point where he knows that there is nothing in his life that he thinks would need changing.

"Hello, father," Hel's face lights up in a smile, a delight behind her vibrant eyes that once again reminds Gabriel that Loki turned his back on this amazing girl in favour of politics.

"Should I be jealous?" Hecate quips from her own chair. Hel stares at her, delight melting into something almost horrified at the words of her stepmother. Gabriel laughs and pulls his wife into a heated kiss while Aislin lets out a high pitched giggle and pats them both on the cheek. When he looks at Hel again, however, Gabriel can see a concern that he knows should not be there. It is more than a little bit worrying and he wonders what the universe has in store for him now.

Since the birth of his daughter things in the life of the archangel have been altogether too quiet. In the past he has been running from one prank to the next, often only one step ahead of the various hunters looking for a trickster god to kill and yet keeping his head down enough that the angels will not notice him. It is the angels that are the main cause of his problems these days, he thinks, without them fighting and hiding among the human population he could have resumed his life as it once had been.

"Father, can I talk to you?" Hel whispers and he knows that his quiet life has just shifted. "Alone, I mean."

"Anything you need to say should be said to Hecate too, I have no secrets from her," Gabriel frowns. Hel hesitates for a moment and watches as the older goddess takes Aislin from her mate's arms.

"I think there's something wrong with Aislin," the words come out in a rush and the archangel feels something in him go tight even as Hecate reacts.

"Don't be ridiculous," she hisses and Aislin whimpers at her tone. "She's perfect, there's nothing wrong with her!"

"Hecate," Gabriel rests a hand on his wife's back, moving her closer so that he can hold her and hoping that his touch will calm her a little. "Why do you think something's wrong?" He asks, though he suspects that Hell has already sensed the light and pure love that fills his daughter.

"She feels different," Hel admits and Gabriel knows that he is right, "and sometimes you feel just like her, father, when you're near her."

None of the others have commented on this before, the archangel knows because if something had been said to Hecate it would have been passed on to him. Still, knowing that his adopted daughter has noticed that there is something wrong with the magic that infuses him is something of a concern. He has believed for a long time that he has kept the feel of his grace well hidden from others.

"I've been different since the snake, Hel," Gabriel says and even to him the words sound hollow. "None of the others have said anything."

"The others aren't related to you and they hardly spend any time with you," Hel's argument is reasonable. "Besides, when they do see you Aislin isn't here and they wouldn't have a reason to look. Not like I have."

There is silence from the archangel and his wife as Hel finishes speaking. This is one of the few fears that Gabriel still has, the fear that someone would notice that he and his daughter are so different from all the others. A fear that they would notice just how special and unique Aislin really is. He glances at Hecate, searching for something that will tell him what to do here.

"You only have two choices," she replies and he knows that this all boils down to how much he trusts Hel. He hopes that he can trust her completely because, while killing Isis would have been difficult had it been necessary, killing Hel would be nearly impossible.

So he snaps his fingers, raising an almost impenetrable shield of magic. No one but the people in this room will be able to hear this conversation.

"We're going to tell you something, Hel," Hecate says, evidently noticing the barrier and working out what he is about to do. "It's a truth we probably should have told you before but we knew you wouldn't like it."

"Loki was dying," Gabriel says, "and I needed a body that wouldn't reject me or burn up. Loki was willing to allow me to bond my grace to his magic and soul. I absorbed him into myself so that I could preserve some small part of him and hide behind him. I'm not your father, Hel, I'm the archangel Gabriel." The room is silent once he has finished speaking, as Hel looks between Hecate and the being that she once believed to be her father.

"You knew?" The younger goddess demands of the older.

"I was the one who introduced them. Loki was in a lot of pain and I couldn't let him pass from the universe without trying to keep some small part of him," Hecate smiles sadly. "Your father was one of my dearest friends, it wasn't easy to watch him dying and it was just as hard to talk him into letting Gabriel in."

"I should have known," Hel mutters, "my father was never so caring or loving. I'm not even sure he knew what it meant. Is this pity you show me now? Or is it guilt for what you've both done?"

"Our love for you is real," Hecate insists. "We both know how Loki treated you, Gabriel better than I probably, but believe me when I say that this isn't pity or guilt."

"You're like one of my own, Hel," Gabriel tells her, "you're more of a daughter to me than I could have imagined. I don't know if you think of that as a good thing or not but it's why I'm telling you the truth now instead of reaching for a stake or blade. I don't want to hurt you."

"Don't you understand, Gabriel? You already have." The younger goddess gets to her feet and Gabriel can see the sorrow in her eyes. The betrayal there is almost like a knife to his own chest, a sensation that he is not unfamiliar with. "I need time to think," she whispers as she gets to her feet. Gabriel relaxes his guard around the room, wanting to trust her and wanting to show her that he does. He lets her leave.

He can only hope that this is the right thing to do.

_Artemis_


End file.
